The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-03-03
YR1OVAEIsV

Another of the VToomaH family has
succeeded in gaining notoriety. This
time it is Rev. Frank b. Vrooman of
the Third Presbyterian church of Kan
sas City, and who, we believe, was at
one time newspaper reporter in EN-
poria, and well-known to our citizens
generally. 1t seems that Frank had
preached a sermon couple of weeks
ago to his congregation which caused
considerable comment and created a
great deal of dissatisfaction among the
orthodox. In his sermon he took occa-
sion to handle the subject OF sectarian-
ism without gloves, expressing his utter
disgust with almost all the different
sects of the Christian religion, both
Catholic and Protestant, and at the
same time professed such liberal views
and opinions as were not in accor-
dance with the tenets of Presbyterian
ism.
That our readers may form an idea of
the manner in which Mr.. Vrooman
handled his subject we will give a few
extracts:
hate a crime. | hate persecution.
l hate hell. wherever or however OF
whatever. Even if the stamp and seal
of religion has been put upon it, that
stamp a., seal c-!V7levPr santify q he'll.
I look into the pas. IL IS not AL Iiark-
ness. The stars are there-some of
them. But the night is there, too. And
the tale Of these hates and bigotries
comes over me like some. hideouS hell
dream, and l am frightened at it, and
l flee toward the angel country and the
land of dawn ., thse hersey hunterSi
Don't you love the memory of them?
Please, then, friend, don't lift Gods eX;
communicating Scepter for him who
cannot believe as you believe. When |
am asked to damn Henry Ward Beech
er, or DIR. Claiming, or Prof. Smythe 1
pause, for / remember the pope has
damned every one of us. That is what
the pope did to Martin Luther. They
pictured his soul carried to hell by pro-
cession of ravens.
But grand old Martin Luther! Some
of us will never believe it of thee! Let
the popes and priests paint the ravens
and the devils, too. Some of us can
never cease to pray that our last end
may be like thine. grand old Martin
Luther Even now we see the old
storm-broken hulk drifting into port
and we hear the grating keel upon the
shining sands-and the anchor falls
and the lone year-stricken pilgrim.
whose eye has been home-bent this
many, many day now, lifts his voice
to a hallelujah as he walks the last
gang plank and slips sweetly into the
open arms of God,
Are you out hunting heTetics? Let
me impart to you a secret: There are
better things to be saying and doing
than growing ut some one who says
or thinks of something y9u
haven't thought of. He may have
climbed by some dizzy cleft the mount
the .horison and discovered some new
star Let him be. He is not necessar-
lily fool because You cannot under
stand him. l will impaTt another Sc
cret, and it is Il fact too. II will be de-
MED with infinite clamor and some
spite, but | assert that all truth has
not been discovered vet. This may
seem very strange, but you will find it
very true. All truth has not yet been
discovered. There are stars yet in
God universe beyond tint compass of
Your vision or mine-Stars that hang
in the high zenith of unborn genera
tons, who shall never cease to cape and
wonder that we had not beheld their
day.
All the truth isn't discovered vet.
Some people are beginning to doubt
whether any truth has been discovered
yet. They say: IF your theologies
agreed might admit a science in it.
You claim to worship the same God.
the same Christ. interpreted by the
same Bible, yet am lost in the choas
you have made. Is there no one road
to the pure heart? Is there no one
way to the holy land? Is there no one
way back to virtue and to God? / am
bewildered. am lost.
What is the church? 1t is no ism. :
1t is not Professionalism. 1t is not Pres
byterianism: 1t is not Congregational
ism II is not Methodism. 1t is not
Baptistism. 1t is not Campbellism
1t is not Mohammodanism or sehism.
ism or barbarism. 1t is not orthodoxy
The church is big as heaven. 1t is the
inspiration of the Son of God.
The coming Christian is the mar
with the Bible in hand and the love OF
God and man in his heart. That man
has right to preach the gospel OF the
NaZariDe. No ecclesiastical tribunal
may confer the right to preach nol
take that right away. The preacher is
not called of ecclesiasticism. That has
no divine authority. The preacher is